Accidents
Lion Air Crash Report Cites Failures by Boeing, FAA, and Crew
The Indonesian safety committee reserved much of its criticism for the design and certification of elements of the 737 Max flight deck.
Boeing 737 Maxes sit in storage in Moses Lake, Washington, in October 2019. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)
Boeing 737 Maxes sit in storage in Moses Lake, Washington, in October 2019. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)

Indonesian investigators have determined that design flaws in the Boeing 737 Max combined with insufficient oversight by U.S. regulators, failures in crew resource management (CRM), and maintenance lapses all contributed to the October 2018 crash of Lion Air Flight 610 off the coast of Java, killing all 189 on board. A final report into the accident released Friday by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) gives nine main contributing factors that led to the crash, including the fact that a faulty reading in only one angle of attack sensor caused the airplane’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) to pitch the nose of the airplane downward, sending the airplane into a steep dive from which the crew failed to recover.